Keohi HDTV - Video Devices - DVD Player - Skyworth 1050P

[VIDEO DEVICES][DVD PLAYER]

Skyworth 1050P

Skyworth 1050P vs. Panasonic RP91

Well this isn't a real shootout in the sense that the equipment are put through the paces in a set of structured instrumented tests.

This was simply an informal comparison between the two players. Tests were basically measured by eyeballing the results from VE and Avia as well as some reference discs.

Jim Ferguson, software developer extraordinaire who developed the in-demand YXY scaler, provided the brand new Panasonic RP91. It is hooked up through a Vigatec feeding his Barco 808 front projection system with a 104" screen. Awesome setup!

I of course brought the Skyworth. Denis Mutlu of TAW, makers of "The Rock" scaler, was also there to provide his technical expertise and analysis.

Due to demands of work, I was late in arriving which shortened even more the already abbreviated session. So for the tests that followed, only the skyworth was really looked at.

We initially had some difficulty getting the display to "synch up" with the skyworth. After a few minutes of fiddling with the Vigatec and rechecking our connections, the image finally popped up on the screen. For this session, the sky was connected only via the progressive component terminals.

Avia Tests

Sharpness: It was solid with no ringing detected.

Pixel cropping: It was amazingly good in that all sides were even. Top and bottom were zero while both left and right were about 2-3 pixels.

Resolution: 100TVL and 200TVL were good with some shimmering on the 6.75MHz band which isn't present on my 65x81. It could be that the pattern is now projected on a much bigger screen.

Moving Zone Plate: Performance in both high and low showed moire as expected.

Overscan Bounce: It was solid with no tearing while cycling between normal and inverse video.

Y/C Delay: Since we are connected via component, the error was visible. The numbers were less than the readings on my set but are still evident here. It is also interesting that there appeared to be some sort of a color bleed on the left edges of each color bar; perhaps some form of a chroma bug. This isn't present in my 65" system but it could be that because it is now magnified on the 104" screen!

Video Essentials Test

We loaded the VE disc and went to the montage. Overall, the image was good but still displayed some shimmering in scenes such as in the stadium, the train, and the bridge.

James Taylor Concert Test

The image was solid with no jaggies especially in the guitar strings. The image was a bit bright. It was later realized that in trying to sync up the sky earlier, the brightness was inadvertently bumped up a few notches which affected the image color/depth a bit.

James Taylor Concert on the RP91

Pressed for time, we loaded the disc on the RP91 for an immediate comparo. The image was again a bit bright so it was reduced a few notches down to an acceptable level. With the brightness adjusted, the image now shows more depth and color. The image looks good but does suffer from jaggies in scenes that have intricate detail like the background singer's shirt and the guitar strings.

While I was packing up the skyworth, Jim demo'ed to me the auto-scale feature of the RP91 which the skyworth sorely lacks. Very very nice. Also, there sure is a lot more menu options on this unit than the sky.

So Which one is Better?

It's really hard to say since not enough time was really spent on either one. I do like them both though.

The RP91 is a solidly built player that produces a very nice progressive image. I really like its autoscale feature. It automatically scales 4:3, letterbox, anamorphic, and non-anamorphic movies to their correct aspect ratio. This feature really shines in effortlessly scaling and playing non-anamorphic movies as anamorphic! The RP91 is the only unit in this price range that is capable of doing this. (A fellow enthusiast however submits that his JVC XV-D723GD also has that capability.) This feature is especially critical to owners of sets that have no image size control or lock to "Full" mode when sent a 480p signal. This player also has a littany of menu options for video and audio which adds to its flexibility to meet user preferences. I may actually get one not only for its autoscale feature but also for its audio (DVD-A) capability.

I also like the Skyworth not just because I already have it, but because of its deinterlacer. It is really VERY good! I guess you have to see it to appreciate it. It is of course an added bonus that it has the versatility to play various audio/video formats and lack industry driven restrictions. And all that for not a lot of money.

As noted above, the image produced by Sky via the Sage chip with DCDI is definitely worth it. Credit to Skyworth for their coup-de-tat to secure the chip for the player. It makes one wonder how they were able to do it and not the goliaths in the industry. Was it forethought, marketing, networking? Who knows but a lot of early adopters are very happy they did.

At any rate, the sky produced solid images with no jaggies in static or motion scenes. On the James Taylor DVD which has inherently soft scenes, the sky appeared soft. The RP91 also looked soft in the same scenes but was a tad sharper. This would be good but the added sharpness worked against it by causing some jaggies.

Both the Sky and RP91 deliver a very good image. You can't really go wrong with either one. If you are looking for a definitive answer on which is better, you won't find it here. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses. It really depends more on your viewing preference and what features you are looking for in a player.

If you are in the market for a progressive player, please check out the review of this player along with other contenders in the August 2001 hometheaterhifi.com Progressive Player Shootout.